My interest in international organizations, development, and aid began long before graduate school. While an undergraduate student at the University of Haifa in Israel, I joined the Society for International Development (SID), an international NGO (nongovernmental organization). I quickly became very involved in the Israeli chapter of the organization, founded its local Youth Chapter, attended international conferences on its behalf, and, with the organization's support, helped draft Israel's report on the status of women for the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women.

At the time, I found the subfield of international political economy a refreshing revelation: growing up in Israel, where conflict is a constant presence, and having served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the first Intifada and the first Gulf War, I was enamored with approaching the study of international relations from an angle of cooperation. I became interested in interactions between states and nonstate global actors that did not constitute war or conflict. It struck me that in the post–Cold War world that was just emerging, understanding global relations between countries and societies through the lens of inequality and cooperation could provide more enduring policy solutions for conflict.

I further developed this interest after graduation, when I took a research assistantship at the Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. In that capacity, I helped create a directory of European NGOs that work in the field of development, attended Inter-American Development Bank and Asian Development Bank conventions, Development Assistance Committee (DAC) deliberations, and many lectures on sustainable development. Although I did not know then that my dissertation research and subsequent book would focus on the Regional Development Banks, I was certain that in my graduate work I would explore the role of international institutions in remedying global inequalities.

During the same period, the Oslo Accords between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the US were signed and their implementation begun. With the cautious optimism that followed this agreement, many thought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might be heading for a resolution, and I learned that a “blue print” was being developed for a Middle East Development Bank. As the only developing region without a dedicated development bank, I questioned whether a development bank could help foster cooperation among Middle Eastern countries, and who would benefit from such a bank.